Boris Johnson is meeting French and German counterparts to find a way to save the Iran nuclear deal after Donald Trump pulled US support for the accord.

The talks in Brussels on Tuesday evening will be followed by a meeting with the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in an intensive diplomatic effort to shore up agreement.

Britain, France and Germany are working to secure measures to protect European countries working in Iran against the danger of US sanctions.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Johnson said: “We are going to have a conversation about what we can do to help UK firms and help European firms have confidence that they can still do business.

“I’m not going to pretend to you now that it will be easy but we are determined to do that and – as far as we possibly can – to protect our businesses from the effects of American primary and secondary sanctions.”

The meeting is being hosted by the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

She said: “Boris Johnson will be here in Brussels together with the foreign ministers of Germany and France to work together to preserve a deal we have achieved together – also with Russia and China – and we will save it together.

“So we will have the meeting with the three foreign ministers tomorrow and then we will also have a meeting with the foreign minister of Iran.”

Mr Johnson held talks with French foreign minister Jean-Yves le Drian in London on Monday and said Britain stands “shoulder to shoulder” with Paris on the need to preserve the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Deeply regret US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. UK remains strongly committed to the JCPoA, and will work with E3 partners and the other parties to the deal to maintain it. Await more detail on US plan.